Northern Territory school trial lifting attendance rates

A school in the remote community of Gunbalanya in West Arnhem Land has been trialling a new school year to try and lift attendance rates and it seems to be paying off. This means children remain at school during the wet season and take their holidays during the dry and teachers at the West Arnhem College say the early signs are very encouraging.

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ELEANOR HALL: Earlier this year we brought you a story about a groundbreaking plan to increase school attendance rates at a remote community in the Northern Territory.

The parents and teachers at the Gunbalanya School in Western Arnhem Land were optimistic that opening the school during the wet season would improve the children's attendance rates which were hovering around 55 per cent.

Now after just a few months of trialling the new system the teachers say they're astounded by the results.

Liz Trevaskis has this report.

LIZ TREVASKIS: Children in the community of Gunbalanya in West Arnhem Land have been at school for 20 weeks so far this year. That's two more weeks than the average Territory school kid and that's because the community of Gunbalanya is the first to trial a realignment of its school year to match the seasons.

This means children remain at school for longer during the wet season and take their holidays during the dry.

Gunbalanya School principal Esther Djaygurrnga says the change in the school year has lead to a change in the community's attitudes towards the school.

ESTHER DJAYGURRNGA: The way they see it now, that the school is part of the community, rather than being as a separate entity. They feel that they now can be able to come and communicate to the school and that we take school out into the community inform what's happening.

LIZ TREVASKIS: Esther, how do the kids feel about this change of school term? Have they welcomed it this wet season?

ESTHER DJAYGURRNGA: I think they've really like it because during the wet when everyone closed in and if it is raising it is very different and everyone sits in the class and they just love it, they've embraced it.

LIZ TREVASKIS: Because what would they have been doing otherwise in this community of 1,000 people if it was school holidays during the wet season?

ESTHER DJAYGURRNGA: Well, they do lots of things. What the kids do normally, they run around in the community, swim in the billabong, but that's what they normally do, run around, climb the trees.

LIZ TREVASKIS: College director John Bray says it's too early to say conclusively that it's lifted school attendance but the early results are very encouraging

JOHN BRAY: What we can say is, the first three weeks of school our attendance rate was very high. We compare that to last year in the dry season when this year we're going to have a holiday now, it was very low. We found significantly, almost like a 35 per cent increase in numbers of kids. Does that mean better literacy and numeracy? Over the long period it means if more kids are at school, more engagement, that's what it's about.

LIZ TREVASKIS: Gordon Canning has been a teacher at the school for three years and he says this change has had more impact on attendance than anything else that's been tried.

GORDON CANNING: I haven't had attendance this high in my classes ever. It's been years when I had less than 10 every day. That hasn't happened to me this year at all. I was getting into the 20s, I had 25 kids that were in the community on my role and yeah, I was getting I think 24 was my highest day.

Just changing the school calendar to show that as a school we are taking into account the cultural activities of the community, it shows that we appreciate their culture and the importance of it to them.

LIZ TREVASKIS: And you think the kids have been happy coming to school in the wet season?

GORDON CANNING: Oh, they prefer to be in the air con than not in the air con I think.

LIZ TREVASKIS: Year 11 student Jessica Bailey says it makes sense that the school dates were changed, because people go hunting and have ceremonies in the dry season while in the wet season, there's nothing to do.

JESSICA BAILEY: Most of the kids would have been doing the bad things like petrol sniffing, fighting and all that but yeah, it changed.

LIZ TREVASKIS: So you reckon this wet season has been good for the kids in town to be able to go to school instead of doing all that stuff?

JESSICA BAILEY: Yeah, it gets their mind off things.

LIZ TREVASKIS: Co-principal, Esther Djaygurrnga says this is an important lesson for the community.

ESTHER DJAYGURRNGA: Biggest thing - it's not only about focusing on literacy and numeracy, what should be promoted is that it's all about community. I think that is what it is. Just like turtle walking along, looking, carefully treading his path as it looks and walks. Slow, but surely, it will get to the end.

LIZ TREVASKIS: It's a small step forward in what is one of the biggest challenges facing educators in remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory.